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Ellis Island by Joseph Bruchac
201
Ellis Island by Joseph Bruchac
Renee Byrnes ELA.7
However, the speaker also mentions their negative feelings about the land, as they stated: "only part of my blood loves that memory", and goes on to explain his awareness that America was stolen land, taken from the Native Americans. His freedom was at the cost of another people.
The Journey versus the Destination
Synopsis
Though the importance of the destination and reaching a goal is important, the journey to get there holds much higher significance in regards to any story.
This poem is narrated by a speaker whose grandparents are Slovakian immigrants who came to America. The speaker seems to have mixed feelings about the new land, as they describe a "tall woman, green/ as dreams of forests and meadows", insinuating that the woman, a reference to the Statue of Liberty, located near Ellis Island, New York, and signifies the hope in new lands and new dreams for the immigrants.
The journey has so many variables that ultimately dictate the outcome of a situation. Based on its difficulty, the problems faced, the considered possibilities, the gains and the losses, character developments, as well as the changes, the realizations, and reactions to different occurrences can determine a person's entire outlook on their destination. When the goal is met, and the destination has been reached, the outcome can be drastically changed based solely on perspective.
When the goal is met, and the destination has been reached, the outcome can be drastically changed based solely on perspective. For instance, in the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, the protagonist begins the book loving her name. However, when her journey continued, external characters effected her opinion on the subject, and her perspective is flipped. She hates her name. In the end, another character is introduced, and her point of view is, yet again, altered dramatically. This proves that the destination can be flexible, while every little thing in the journey has an effect.
Unit Theme: The Journey/Living Without
The poem fits out unit theme "The Journey/Living Without" because of the message that the poem holds. The speaker's family has spent their lives without freedom, but with hope for their journey towards liberation of the sickness of their native land.
However, the speaker's journey is one that is internal. Though he recognizes the journey for freedom his family had embarked on, he also realizes that America, the land in which they had taken refuge, was stolen from the Native Americans. He had gained his freedom, and the journey was a success. However, he had to live without the reassurance that his home was not obtained at the expense of another generation of humans.